World Business Briefing | Europe: A Warning Against Protectionism Over Mergers

Charlie McGreevy, who oversees the European single market, strongly criticized Poland, France and Luxembourg, accusing them of unfairly seeking to stop cross-border deals. Mr. McCreevy, left, the commissioner for the internal market, said moves by France and Luxembourg to shield the steel group Arcelor from a takeover by Mittal Steel were out of step with European law. At the same time, he threatened Poland with a lawsuit over its attempts to protect a domestic banking group. Poland has held firm in its decision to block the acquisition of Bank BPH by UniCredito, the last obstacle to Unicredito's $25 billion purchase of the HVB Group of Germany, which owns BPH. Protectionism is "the wrong message to be sending about the openness of the European Union to new investment," he said in a news briefing in Brussels. Mr. McCreevy's broadside came the same day that Thierry Breton, the finance minister of France, proposed legislation limiting unsolicited takeovers. The law would allow possible takeover targets the right to give shareholders the right to buy new stock at a discount to ward off hostile bids. JAMES KANTER (IHT)